


A 3rd Wizardly Adventure

by gonnadowritingiswear



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Homestuck
Genre: Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Gen, Magic, Promise, also holy fuck this is how i add bonus tags, anyway first goddamn fic, dave and rose are neville and harry, etc - Freeform, homestuck pals in place of the harry potter ones, jade i hermione, john is sort of ron, like how it is in canon? its not a whump story, read it bitches fuel my dumbass crossover, why didnt it let me do this before im so mad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-05-08 16:23:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14697906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gonnadowritingiswear/pseuds/gonnadowritingiswear
Summary: Having beaten back the shades of the Condesce twice already, 13 year old wizards (and witches), Rose Lalonde, Dave Strider, Jade Harley, and John Egbert are ready to have a smoother and less deadly year. Sadly, while the Condesce seems to still be recouperating from the previous defeats, fate has yet to grant these kids such mercy.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So hey! This shit is gonna be my first fic here. Legit. Lemme know whatcha think in the comments, constructive criticism would be prefered but I'll take what I can get. There's a decent chance I'll be adding illustrations as I continue but I can't say for certain right now. 
> 
> Also, could entirely use some help figuring out how uh. All this. Works? So any advice would be appreciated. Oh and a special thanks to Laurasaurus for being my fuckin' beta and giving me advice as I work through this. I have no idea if I'll have a consistent update schedule but I'll mostly be posting as I write, I am so excited to be writing this you don't even know. 
> 
> What the fuck are work skins.

Rose Lalonde was a sensible young woman with 13 years of life experience under her belt. And being the sensible young girl she was, Rose did the groceries for her house. Her aunt had entrusted this very important task to her, and Rose did it well. She knew what was important to get, vegetables, fruits, milk, eggs, (and alcohol) and what was extraneous nonsense she had no need for, candies, cakes, and soda pops. Rose knew the way to the grocery store and she knew the best time to go if she didn’t want to get caught up in long lines. She had been getting the groceries since she was 7 and her aunt had decided she was old enough to have some responsibility around the house. 

And Rose knows she’s kidding herself to think that her aunt ‘entrusted’ this chore to her because she had proven herself responsible enough to do it. No, Rose got the groceries not because she was a sensible and responsible young woman, but because if she didn’t do it, no one would. She learned this when she was 7 and couldn’t find anything in the refrigerator nor the pantry but alcohol. At the time, she had successfully deluded herself into believing that this meant that Aunt Ruxie was seeing how grown and responsible she was and was letting her take over an important part of the household. It only took her a few years for her to recognize it for what it was; her aunt being a useless drunkard who seemed to forget she was supposed to be caring for a child. 

Let’s start again.

Rose Lalonde was 13 years old, and she took care of the majority of chores around the household. Because if her useless drunk of a relative wasn’t drinking all the alcohol in reach and weeping on the couch, she was at ‘work’. Her aunt was a scientist, Rose didn’t care to remember what kind, and she did work at a massive building she had taken Rose to at one point when she was much younger. All Rose knew was that her aunt could certainly afford a housekeeper, could afford to have someone do the groceries, could afford to actually care for Rose, and yet; the useless woman would blow all her savings on expensive liquors. Though sometimes she did seem to remember her household also housed a young lady who needed things like clothes and toiletries. When this happened, Rose would get ‘gifts’. It was never anything useful, usually a fancy doll with an ever smiling face, or a frilly dress that would be at least a size too small, or maybe some make-up in varying shades of pink. Always something girly, always something that didn’t fit Rose in any manner of the word. 

Rose’s aunt was her sole guardian, well if one didn’t count the men that came and went, which Rose never had after the third and the realisation that none of them would ever be staying longer than a couple weeks at best. So she did her best to avoid them, and they her. Arriving back at the house, gracefully juggling the grocery bags and keys to unlock the door, and passing over the threshold, Rose was relieved to find herself alone. The sickly sweet scent that clung to her aunt was faint and there was little sound beyond the noise Rose herself made. She first stopped by the kitchen to deposit her store bought spoils, before they spoiled, in the proper places. It was then she went to her room, it was on the second floor and one of the smaller rooms in the place. The house was hardly modest, but it wasn’t massive. Two stories, several spacious rooms, and three bathrooms all fully equipped with luxury bathtubs. When she was youthfully naive Rose would imagine all the friends she could have over, such a dream never came to pass and it was abandoned with the rest of her childish fantasies of ‘family’. 

Rose was pulled from her musings by a tapping on her window. The wide grin that crossed her face was only allowed to do so because the only one who would see it was the owl she had gotten up to let in. 

Rose Lalonde was 13, the sole ward of her aunt Ruxundra Lalonde, a responsible young lady, and most of all, Rose was a wizard. Well, a witch to be accurate. Rose Lalonde was a witch and this year she would be a 3rd year in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

The owl hooted at her as she opened the window and flew in to perch on her desk before hooting again. Rose allowed a soft chuckle to grace her lips at bird’s antics. He was a snowy owl, a beautiful one at that, and owned by her friend Jade. His name was Becquailrel, after the sadly deceased Becquerel, and he ferried the majority of letters the four of them, Rose herself, his owner Jade, and their two other friends John and Dave, sent to each other. Rose wasn’t allowed to own an owl, John’s family had an owl but it was old and the family was large, and Dave was in a similar predicament to herself, but Jade being the wonderful friend she was didn’t mind sharing her owl, so long as they all rewarded him for doing a good job.

“Give me a moment here, dear messenger, I have your bribes tucked away in the confines of this drawer here.” And true to her word Rose had joined the owl at her desk and was rifling through the bottom drawer’s contents to find the promised treats. The great bird settled and began to preen.

It didn’t take her much longer to find them, though Rose was unhappy to note it seemed she was beginning to run low. She put her worries aside for now, the end of summer was nearing and she would soon be able to visit Diagon Alley to replenish her supply. 

“Here you are my flighty and feathered friend, just as I said. May I have your end of this trade now?” The owl snatched the treat from Rose’s hand before carefully balancing on one leg to extend the other of which there was a letter attached to. Rose was gentle in her removal of it, but she couldn’t quite contain the excitement that bubbled up in her. Looking over the address, it seems she’s gotten one from John this time. Her excitement didn’t overwhelm her decorum however, and Rose made sure to open the letter like a proper lady. 

_rose!! i just got a letter back from dave and he said he was going to be able to be at diagon alley on the 19th! he also said to tell you that freud is bullshit and nothing in his dreams has anything to do with dicks. so. there you go. please dont get me any further into your gross psycho-whatever stuff. i dont want to know._

_but anyway! were all going to be seeing eachother again soon! jades really excited and i know dave is too even if he says he isnt. we all know how he REALLY feels inside. hes such a dork. ill be getting to the leaky around 3 so. try to be there!_

_-john_

_p.s. i swear becquailrel has been watching scratch waiting for the moment to pounce. hes got this. evil bird look. please give him extra snacks if youre going to send him back. maybe he wont try to eat him if he isnt too hungry._

While reading the letter, Rose had to contain her giggles. Both John and Dave were such fun to mess with sometimes. But as she set it aside to grab her own parchment and inkwell Rose decided she was going to let John off the hook this time. She didn’t have enough treats to satisfy Becquailrel’s hunger. In fact, in an act of pure benevolence Rose decided to spare both of her boys and instead write Jade. If Becquailrel was hungry, Jade was certain to have something for him to eat. And the owl certainly seemed to be eyeing the bag she kept her treats in.

_Dearest Jade,_

_I am pleased to inform you that-_

It’s with a faint moan and a slamming door that Rose’s letter writing was interrupted. She nearly breaks the nib on her quill in startlement, and creates large splotch of ink anyway. She sighs and resigns herself to a no longer quiet evening, as it seems her aunt has returned home. And with a guest in tow. Rose really wished the woman could contain herself in these summer months. She didn’t want to hear the debauchery that shrieking animal got up to with whatever poor sap she’d tricked into coming home with her. 

She looked back at Becquailrel who had fluffed up in surprise and was shooting a glance between her door and window, before making a low hoot and shifting restlessly from foot to foot. 

“Go along home to Jade, I’ll write her a letter another time.” Internally Rose couldn’t help but seethe. If only the drunkard had waited just a little longer to bring home her quarry Rose could’ve gotten a letter out to her friends. 

Becquailrel gave her a hoot that was almost apologetic and then hopped a couple steps to take off back out the open window. Rose watched him disappear into the fading light and allowed herself a moment of wallow before cleaning up her desk. Putting the ink and parchment away, tucking the treats back into their drawer, and most importantly, storing John’s letter away carefully with the rest. 

Rose wondered if she would be able to make it out to a nearby bathroom to wash up before bed, but almost as if in answer to her internal and unspoken question, a moan followed by a gasped name came from just outside of her door. It was with resigned disgust that Rose changed into her bed clothes, crawled between the sheets, and covered her head with a pillow. The noise had faded somewhat as the hyena and her mate for the night had likely made it further down the hall. It was still far from quiet and so Rose settled in for a long and restless night. 

There were only 17 more days until she can return to Hogwarts. Just 17 until she can go home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters are gonna alternate between Dave and Rose's perspectives yall. Maybe not everytime, but it's gonna do that.

Dave had been, not that he’d ever admit or show it, excited for today. He was also almost certain Bro would drop in from somewhere and challenge him to a duel for just thinking such a blasphemous thought. Emotions? From a Strider? No fucking way. But, it seemed today was Dave’s lucky day, he’d seen Bro passed out on the couch just an hour or so ago. The man was a light sleeper, and as much as he might try Dave wasn’t the quietest person. So he’d stuck to his room after making a quick bid for something to eat, and had miraculously not awoken the ~~beast~~ man that was sprawled on the couch. Or, maybe he had but Bro had decided to be merciful today. 

Ha, Dave could almost laugh at that. Bro and mercy? There wasn’t a worse pairing than that. Not even uh. Nails and a chalkboard? Fuck, no that wasn’t a good metaphor. Whatever he’ll come back to it later. Anyway, for whatever reason, Bro had yet to demand a daily strife from Dave, and Dave couldn’t help but be thankful. Maybe Bro knew he was going out to get supplies today and figured that would be enough exercise for the day. It wasn’t as if Dave would be able to floo to Diagon Alley, and he certainly couldn’t apparate yet, not far. 

Shit there wasn’t any introductions was there? Well damn, man, let's get those out of the way here. 

Dave Strider is 13, and probably the coolest person you’ll ever meet. He’s a 3rd year wizard, and Hogwarts is probably the best part of his young life. It might even be the best part of his old life, adult life? Life when he’s as old as Headmaster Harley? (On a related tangent, the fact that Jade Harley one of his best friends, and the school Headmaster have the same last name despite not being related at all is ironic as hell.) Either way, while he’s certainly the coolest, it’s not too much for school. Those punks who think they’re better than a magic fuckin’ learning castle don’t know shit. They’re faking posers.

So anyway, back on topic. What was the topic again? Right yeah, today. Today is August 19th and it’s about 2 in the afternoon. Today Dave is going to be meeting his friends at Diagon Alley to get their school shopping done and—Shit. Fuck. Shit shit shit shit fuck. Dave forgot to get his vault key. Goddamnit he knew he was missing something. No wonder Bro hadn’t done shit when Dave had gone out earlier. Fucker knew Dave was gonna need to actually disturb him anyway for the key. He was just waiting for Dave to initiate. God fucking Merlin in Hell. Dave only had an hour, less if he wanted to get there on time, before he was supposed to be meeting his friends at the Leaky. Fuck he’s an idiot. He got everything prepared, except getting the goddamn key. And now he’s wasting precious time agonizing about it. Alright, okay, he can do this. Just grab his wand, and head on out there, and issue the challenge for the vault key. He doesn’t need to win, just put up a good enough fight to impress Bro a little. 

Dave’s already wasted ten minutes psyching himself up. But, that’s fine. You gotta be prepared and shit. Finally, Dave grabs his wand and opens his door and, a note flutters off it to land on the floor in front of him. Of course. It’d probably been up since Dave had gotten back to his room earlier. And Bro’s been waiting the whole time. With an annoyed groan, Dave takes off out into the backyard.

 

With a grunt, Dave dives to the side to dodge a stream of yellow* light. He’s not getting any mercy today, not that he expected any of course, they’re Striders, and Striders don’t pull their punches no matter the opponent. But Dave’s been getting better, and he’s soon huffing a returning spell before rolling back onto his feet. Bro dodges it but hey, Dave didn’t need to right himself before casting it. He considers this a personal win and allows the pride of it to sink in for a second before he needs to refocus back on the duel. Sadly, that second is all Bro seems to have needed to get Dave with a hit, and he can feel the bruises just blooming along his right side. Goddamnit, he let himself get cocky, and now he’s suffering for it. He staggers with a hiss but stays standing, looks like his endurance has gotten better too and—no shit fuck focus on Bro—Oh. He’s stopped. Are they done for today? Has Bro actually been impressed by his performance today? That’d be—

_“Shit!”_

—Dave shouts and flinches to the right as color flashes past his face, just barely missing him. 

Something behind him yelps. And growls. 

Dave twists around, and bites down on a yelp of his own when his movement pulls on his bruised muscles, to see whatever the hell it is that Bro just hit. He catches sight of a, dog? The fuck is that thing? But, before he can get too good of a view of it, the thing streaks past him in a blur of brown. There’s a shout from Bro before Dave’s even turned back around and, what? What?? 

Oh fuck ow, his side already hates him but Dave bears through it and turns back around just in time to see Bro blast the, dog, that’s definitely a dog. A really fucking dirty one but definitely a dog. It goes sprawling and, oh shit there’s rips in the sleeve of Bro’s robe and Bro looks fucking murderous. This is the most emotion Dave’s probably ever seen from Bro and it’s not even directed at him. Which, Dave is kind of glad for because oh fuck. Bro is stalking towards the mutt as it staggers to its feet. It’s making this whining growl that fucking hurts to hear. And Dave is, he might as well have been hit by a stunner because he _can’t fucking move._

Bro’s mumbling something but Dave can’t really hear what it is, he’s too far away and, oh fuck Bro’s going to kill it isn’t he? Dave’s pretty sure he just heard Bro say “...rid of you.” That’s, no. No, it’s just a dog, one that Bro attacked first. The thing was probably just minding its own business and looking for something to eat, must’ve wandered onto the property and, it doesn’t deserve to die for that. But Dave, can’t seem to make his hands move. His wand is gripped tightly in his left hand he’s not doing anything-

 _“Fuck! Bro don’t-”_ As soon as he gets his mouth to move, the rest of him is as well. He doesn’t have time to cast a spell, to even think about casting anything but damn does he not want that dog to die. As his muscles start to move, Bro’s freeze. The dog whips its attention to him as Dave runs over and skids to a stop in front of it. “Bro don’t, -shit- don’t kill it.”

Bro doesn’t move, not even a twitch, his wand is still raised but he’s not casting anything. 

Dave starts babbling, “It’s just a dog man, just trying to live and do dog things and you attacked it first it was probably just minding its own business and then boom, pain all up on it and of course it's gonna react to getting hurt, just fucking—” 

It’s about now that Dave realises Bro isn’t reacting at all. That he’s just standing there. 

“—Bro?” No reaction. He still looks deadly but, no part of him is moving. He’s not even breathing. Or, he isn’t as far as Dave can tell. 

“Oh fuck. Oh shit. Ohfuckshitfuck _fuckfuckfuckfuck—”_ The dog is apparently still here, and headbutts Dave almost gently as he starts to freak out. “—Fuck, hey, fuck—you should. Prolly run. Bro’s fuck—” And he’s getting headbutted again, slightly less gently this time. “Okay fuck, what? What do you want? I don’t have any food, you’re a dog you should be able to smell that. Shouldn’t you? Or fuck, you’re all busted up here. Prolly can’t run, shiiiiiit.” 

A quick glance at Bro and, nothing happening there. Dave has no idea how long he’s going to stay like this but fuck if he’s going to stay long enough to find out. “I don’t know any healing spells uh—Shit.” 

The dog is just looking at him now, what the fuck. Another nervous glance at Bro and, oh shit that’s his vault key. He could, just grab it couldn’t he? He totally could. Holy shit he actually kind of bested Bro didn’t he? Maybe Bro won’t be pissed, whenever whatever this is wears off. Sure, Dave has no idea what he did but he certainly did _something._

So, hesitantly, carefully, Dave reaches out grab the vault key just barely sticking out of one of Bro’s pockets. The string off the end of it is stuck in an odd shape, but Dave is able to extricate it fairly easily. Almost too easily, except nothing more happens. He just gets the key out and Bro is still standing there, frozen. He lets out a sigh of something like relief, the pain abandoning him as the euphoria of what he’s achieved floods him.

“Okay fuck. Fuck, I actually did something to Bro for once. Holy shit. Uh. Holy shitah, ah ha. Ah ha ha—” Dave can’t help the laughter that bubbles out of him. The dog, the dog is still there, still staring at him. It’s kind of panting now and only standing on three legs, but Dave can’t do anything but ride the only slightly painful almost giggles coming out of him, “Fuck- ha, hahahaha- shit fuck ahahaha- I fucking did that. I bested him! Holy shit! I have no idea what I did but I fucking! Did it fucking ha!” 

He’s fighting a grin, and taking a step back to sit down on the grass has him hissing but, it doesn’t do anything to dampen the glee coursing through him. The dog follows him, kind of limping before settling with its head in his lap. 

“Holy shit. Holy _shit. Holy fucking shit.”_ Dave is in awe. He needs to go, it’s probably nearly time to be meeting his friends but. He’s sore, he actually bested Bro for once, and there’s a fucking dog in his lap. He’s still chuckling a little, though it hurts, as the pain from his side and the various other aches catch up to him. 

A final bit of wheezy laughter, it’s fine, there’s no one here but him and the dog. 

And Bro’s frozen body. 

“Shit.”

He should, do something about that but Dave has no idea what. So, maybe he could just leave him there? For now? Bro’ll be fine, something like whatever it is Dave did probably isn’t going to do him in. 

A whining noise disrupts his thoughts and, that was the dog. Fuck it’s hurt isn’t it? 

“Shit uh, fuck Harley’ll prolly know what to do with you ‘cause I have no idea. Uh. Fuck.” A glance at Bro, and then another back towards the house, “There’s probably some food inside, but fuck I have no idea how long Bro’s gonna be like this so, uh-” 

It occurs to him that he could probably find someone to take care of the dog in Diagon Alley even if Harley won’t. Dave has no idea how the grieving process works. Is a year long enough before getting a new dog? Either way, he has no idea how he’s going to get this dog there but, he’s going to somehow. 

“Fuck uh. Can you walk—what am I doing. It’s a dog. Dogs don’t understand—” But, as he’s speaking the dog starts making a weird sort of whining huff before unsteadily standing back up on three legs and begins pacing around him. 

“Ooooookaaaaaaaay then.” It’s walk is slow but Dave isn’t likely to be going any faster. His side hurts like hell, and he knows everything is going to start aching once the high of the fight wears off. 

One last glance at the Bro’s statuesque form and Dave is pushing himself back up and carefully making his way to the door of the house. The dog follows, not even sparing a look at Bro. It seems entirely focused on him. It didn’t have any collar so Dave is pretty sure it’s a stray, ‘cause it’s too nice to be feral despite appearances. How a stray dog got here is a bit beyond him but it happens. It could certainly use a wash but Dave doesn’t know the spell for that off the top of his head. And anyway he isn’t supposed to do magic outside of dueling practice. Someone’ll be able to take care of it at Diagon won’t they? Probably. With access to his vault Dave could probably even pay them. 

It’s with these thoughts in mind that Dave seeks out his small medical stash. He has no idea what’s up with the dogs leg, but he hopes it’s just bruising like his side. He doesn’t need any bandages but, there is a couple vials of premade pain potions Harley helped him whip up. Harley was such a good friend. She didn’t even really question why he wanted them. And she’d definitely know what to do with this dog, even if she wouldn’t keep it herself. After downing one of the potions to the soundtrack of the dogs panting, he was halfway through stashing them back away before it occurred to him that the dog is probably in a shitton of pain too, maybe more than Dave himself was considering it didn’t seem willing to use one of it’s legs.

“Shit uh. I have no clue if these work on dogs but, you can probably tell if something's gonna be poison for you right? Right. So lemme uh.” Oooh there it is, Dave lets himself sigh as the ache dulls, “Lemme grab a bowl for you.” Snagging one more vial and stuffing the rest back in their spot, Dave heads to the kitchen with far more ease to his step. 

Because life hates him, as soon as he enters the kitchen, a clock chimes three times. He’s supposed to be at the Leaky by now.

“Fuck-” He nearly drops the glass vial, but he’s too cool for dumb mistakes like that. 

“Goddamnit, I’m gonna be fuckin’ late. Fuckin’ fuck.” Dave groans, softly, barely there, and less than carefully digs out a small bowl, just barely avoiding activating one of Bro’s trap spells. He can’t remember if it’s alright to mix this stuff with water so for now he just dumps the potion into the bowl. 

“Fuck it, I can be late. We aren’t gonna be getting anywhere fast if you’re limping.” Dave honestly prides himself on his punctuality, just a little bit, but ending up late to shit is something he’s used to when Bro gets involved. He’s already late, a few more minutes isn’t going to matter in the long run. 

As soon as Dave sets the bowl down, the dog is on it like flies on a week old slab of meat. It doesn’t seem to be having any kind of horrible reaction, thank fuck, and Dave busies himself with trying to find something to feed the dog. Harley would probably know the best thing to feed it, and there’s that pet shop in Diagon, but it’d be cruel to make it wait longer when he could feed it now. 

A quick dig through the cabinets provides provides a bit of a burn on his fingers, forgot to check for traps dammit, and some kind of meat jerky. It’ll be better than nothing, right?

“Don’t have much more than this so I hope you don’t mind salty and dry,” As he speaks Dave crouches down a little and offers his findings to the dog, “Though I guess you aren’t in a place to be picky. I’ll get you something better at Diagon.” 

While it takes the jerky almost gently out of his hands, the dog devours it as soon as it’s out of finger biting range. It doesn’t really seem to be listening, which, fair. It’s starving and in pain, Dave probably wouldn’t be listening some fuck rambling at him were he in that situation. Also it’s a dog, a weirdly smart one, but still a dog.

Bro hasn’t popped in yet, and checking out the back windows shows he’s still frozen. Dave is weirdly relieved for all of about 10 seconds before his insides go cold. Bro’s gonna kill him for helping the dog. And then kill the dog. Or the other way around. Either way he’s dead if he’s here when Bro gets free.   
Dave’s got two options as he sees it, find somewhere else to live and hope Bro doesn’t come after him, or get rid of the dog himself and hope Bro’ll be merciful.

“Fuck.”

The dog pads up near him and Dave groans to himself. He’s really only got one option here, doesn’t he?

“Alright, fuck. We can’t be here whenever whatever I did wears off of Bro. Diagon isn’t that far from here we can probably make it. Should prolly grab my shit though.”

As he’s talking Dave heads to his room and he figures a shrinking charm on his trunk is gonna be forgivable because, he’s already kind of exhausted. Not having to drag the thing with him is worth a little illegal magic. 

“Got my shit. Alright let’s go.” The dog had been following him as he went from room to room and isn’t far behind as he heads to the front door, Dave’s hoping it doesn’t run off or keel over on the way there. He should probably figure out a name for it, the walk to Diagon will be ample time for that.

“Only gotta figure out where to stay for 14 days. Shouldn’t be too hard right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I'm not sure how this one got so much longer than the other than Rose's but I feel like it fits alright. Hope none of the pacing is awkward.


	3. Chapter 3

It was nearly three thirty before Dave entered the Leaky Cauldron. Rose wasn’t sure if she should feel relieved or disappointed. He wasn’t normally late to things because, as “cool” as he claimed to be, he was quite meticulous over timing. It was almost comical at times, and annoying at others. 

He looked quite disheveled, his robes and hair a mess. It was almost as if he had just woken up, or ran all the way here. From what she could see of his expression, he looked annoyed and tired. He hadn’t seemed to have noticed her yet, which she supposed was fair. Rose wasn’t exactly trying to draw attention to herself at this moment, and while she was the tallest in their group, she was still thirteen. 

She was alone at the table too, John and Jade were most often the loudest of them and without the two there was little to make her stand out. Splitting up had been Jade’s idea, they all had so much shopping to do for their third year and so little time to do it, but wanted to make sure Dave wouldn’t get lost if or when he showed up, to paraphrase Jade’s words. Rose had volunteered to sit first, and they had agreed that they would switch out every half hour. She had only been on here own for a little over 20 minutes before Dave entered though so it seems they had all been a little too impatient. But what can you do when you lack a basis for lateness in friends?

Well this was enough musing as it seemed Dave had finally spotted her, and was now headed her way.

“Yo, Lalonde.”

Ah that odd drawl of his, how she’s missed it. 

“Greetings as well Strider. I must say, for someone usually so concerned with punctuality, you’ve certainly taken your time arriving here.” She couldn’t help but tease him a bit, with how late he was, Dave had more than earned some friendly ribbing over it. 

His responsive twitch was quite gratifying.

“Decided to try out bein’ fashionably late for once. All the coolkids are doing it these days you know, figured it was about time I gave it a shot. See if it’s all that it’s cracked up to be. Gotta say though, not sure what everyone’s been saying is all too true. Wasn’t warned there was gonna be a snarky broad waitin’ for me when I got here. The welcome party I’d been promised is sorely lacking. I want a refund, I was promised exuberant Harleyberts but all I’m seeing is a sassy ass of the Lalondian gene.” 

Rose allowed a smile of her own to grace her face. A more genuine sort of smile, she had missed him. Summer is too long by far.

“John and Jade are off obtaining their supplies. When it became apparent you weren’t going to be showing up on time we decided we’d take turns waiting for you. I generously took the first shift, as I doubted they would have been able to keep from making a scene with all that worried energy they had over you.” 

Rose fought a grin as Dave fought the blush that threatened to overtake his face. It wouldn’t do to make how she enjoyed this more obvious. She would certainly answer his unspoken questions, but not without making a dig at him. 

“Fuck you too Rose, coolkids don’t need dorks worryin’ about them. They should have known I was fine ‘cause I’m always fine. Anyway, they gonna be back anytime soon? I kinda need Harley’s expertise on somethin’ and I have no idea how long it can wait.” 

Rose rolled her eyes and shifted to stand up from her seat, damn Dave was catching up to her in height. She still had a couple inches on him, but she had no idea how long this would last. At least Jade and John were still quite short, but she knew it was unlikely to stay that way for much longer. After meeting John’s mom, and Jade’s guardian it became quite clear their genetics favored height, it was just a matter of time now. She could still hope at least, could hope for as long as she held the advantage. 

“Do you need to make more potions? Have you somehow waited all summer to complete your homework? Because I can certainly help with those.” She asked with a sly look she’d been practicing in the mirror recently, it was quite good if she said so herself. She saw it on the telly a couple weeks back and was impressed.

Dave groaned, “No, I need that Harley specific knowledge. Bro woulda killed me if I didn’t have my summer work done by now. Though if you know if it’s chill to be feeding dogs pain potions lemme know ‘cause I really hope I uh-- Well. I found a dog? Or it found me? Anyway one of its legs is fucked up and I never thought I’d regret zoning Harley out when she’d talk about taking care of Bec the first but here I am, wallowing in those regrets. This poor dog has been walking around with this fucked leg and I think that can probably make it worse and sure I shared a pain potion with it but I have no idea if it’s even safe to feed dogs those and I know that they don’t really do shit for actually helping healing and can make it easy to injure yourself further and--”

“DAVE!”

It was not one but two exuberant shouts that interrupted Dave, heralding the return of the aforementioned Jade and John. Has it really been thirty minutes already?

“Oof-” It seemed Dave wasn’t getting out of the apparently mandatory Harley hug Rose herself had been subjected to thirty minutes earlier either. “Sup?”

Before Jade could reply or John could cut in Rose spoke up, “Welcome back Jade, John. It seems Dave has finally decided we were worthy of his cool presence. He had showed up just a few minutes ago.” She smiled, all her friends were here, it felt so good to be back with them all after a summer away. 

“Wow Dave you haven’t gotten any taller!”

Rose had to hold in a laugh at the indignant look on Dave’s face. Jade however had no such self-control and giggled into Dave’s shoulder before letting go of him to actually look him over.

“That’s the first fuckin’ thing you have to say to me after not seeing my beautiful face for months? Fuckin’ rude Egbert. Anyway Jade thank fuck you’re here I need your help with something.” Ah right the dog he was rambling about earlier. Well Rose supposes it’s a good thing Jade showed up before Dave asked her help on it. Rose knew about cats, but not dogs. 

“Oh! Alright then what is it? Do you need more potions?” Jade had perked up at Dave’s admission.

“Nope it’s somethin’ that requires that doggy knowledge ya got in your head, come on. Here’s hopin’ it hasn’t run off yet or someshit.” And with that Dave had turned and walked off, Jade on his heels bombarding him with questions. 

Rose watched them leave before turning to John, who had an odd look on his face. All pinched up and annoyed. 

“John?” She questioned. 

“Yes Rose?”

“Are you jealous?”

That sent him for a loop and he turned to blink at her. She was running two for two on knocking the boys off their metaphorical feet, they really needed to work on their game. 

“What? No! Why would I be jealous? And of what? We’re all friends. There’s no need for any of us to be jealous of each other!”

His flushed face told a different story. Rose hummed but decided to let it go. They could gossip another time. 

“Alright then, well would you like to continue shopping for supplies? I don’t know how long they’ll take but I haven’t gotten any of mine yet.”

“Yeah sure, I’ve mostly been following Jade around. I’ve got some good hand-me-downs this year, so I don’t need to get much.”

“Excellent, we’ll head to Eyelop’s first. I need some more owl treats.” 

Rose stood up as she spoke and started towards to door, opposite the one Dave and Jade had left through. John soon fell in step with her. 

“Hey, speaking of owls. My family got a new owl!” John grinned, “Her name’s Jameson, and she really pretty and so fast! I think she might even be faster than Becquailrel!”

“Don’t say that around Jade, she’ll challenge you to an owl race. Though I have to ask, why Jameson?”

John snickered, “Casey named her, after grandpa James! She looks a lot like gramps even. We call her Jamie most of the time. Casey’s really the only one who calls her Jameson. But, well. You’ll see when you meet her.”

The bell of the door rang as John pushed it open for her. Rose offered a quick thanks before beelining towards the treats.

“I look forward to meeting her then. Pray tell, does she act anything like your grandfather?” Her aunt was already barely tolerant of Becquailrel, even if she barely saw him. A rowdier owl might tip things over the edge. 

John’s grin widened and Rose sighed. 

“I didn’t even answer yet! Rude!”

“I can already tell by the look on your face. I think I’ll stick with Becquailrel, he knows how to behave most of the time.”

“Jamie can behave just fine! She just likes a joke here or there.”

They continued to bicker even as Rose finished her selection and approached the register. The argument only paused so she could give the proper change and thank the clerk. 

“All of your family has an unhealthy obsession with jokes and japes. I’m certain Jade and Dave will agree with me when they return.”

John choose this moment to stick his tongue out at her, and Rose, as the self declared most mature one of the group, returned the gesture with an added raspberry. John fell into a fit of giggles. Point three to Rose. 

“Okay, okay where to next?” He asked between giggles. 

“I was thinking to head to Flourish and Blotts’ next, it’s just across the street here. You might even find something useful there too.” 

“Maybe! Hey, how long do you think Jade and Dave’ll take?”

Rose hummed, considering, “I can’t say. Dave had mentioned something of his problem before you and Jade returned and it didn’t sound like something that would take little time.”

“Dang, well I hope they finish up soon. I want to try a new prank out on Dave, he’s so gullible sometimes!”

“He likes to believe in the best of us, but sweet as that is, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that it would be quite boring if we didn’t take advantage of that every now and then.”

“Exactly!”

John again held the door for her, what a gentleman. 

“Thank you my good sir.” She dropped her voice as low as it could go. 

John snorted and brought his own up as high as he could take it, “You’re very welcome ma’am!”

Rose let herself giggle as the door shut behind them. Point to John. 

Rose loved book stores, wizardly and muggle alike. There was something peaceful and comforting about them. None of the others seemed to share her love for them. John was too rowdy, Jade too loud, and Dave prefered to hear a story than to read one. They wandered as conversation flowed into a comfortable silence. She paused every now and then to grab a book from her school list, or investigate another that had caught her eye.

She could tell John had gotten bored, and was unsurprised when he finally split off to investigate the toys.

Rose had gotten all the books the list called for by now, but she wasn’t willing to move on yet. The atmosphere was so comfortable, she wished she could stay here forever. 

Alas, it seemed to not be, as a bell rang through the store and she could hear Jade saying something in the distance. It seemed their friends had returned from whatever Dave needed to do.


End file.
